Sometimes hearing about new acts and listening to a song or two isn’t enough for them to get your attention. Sometimes you have to discover them on your own; you could be consciously looking, stumble upon them, or they can run you over. I had heard of The Gibbonses but I honestly didn’t know what to expect when I first saw them opening for The Statesboro Revue a few months back. Some nights it’s good to be a klutz.

Brandon and Jackie Gibbons have been getting some off and on buzz since the release of their first full album, “Among The Rubble”, a year ago. Like a lot of Texas acts, The Gibbonses build their following one fan at a time with lots of windshield time in between. It’s blue collar, or to steal a hashtag from their Instagram account, it’s #diyasfuck. Call it whatever, it’s the work ethic that folks around here tend to appreciate.

The Gibbonses describe themselves as a “Southern Soul, Americana, Rhythm & Blues” outfit. That shoe fits well enough. It’s just the two of them, Jackie on lead vocals and a plethora of percussion (more on that in a sec), Brandon on guitar and backing vocals.

They have a fun origin story – the short of it is the two met on a Carnival Cruise ship, Brandon being the Director of Music had just cleaned house and took on newbie showband singer, Jackie Pock. They immediately hit it off musically and one thing lead to another…then marriage…it happens. After a short stint in Seattle, family health issues brought the young couple back to Jackie’s home state of Texas. It was out of those experiences that “Among The Rubble” was born.

The album is deeply personal, full of loneliness, tragedy, struggle, loss, mourning, resilience and hope. It’s not a Happy Birthday kind of record, the song progression forms a cohesive emotional narrative describing a trying journey. The writing is legit and I’d say their transition from cruise ship cover band to songwriting has gone well.

Jackie’s powerful voice, along with a thundering kick drum, drive you through the storm. The vocals are soulful and hypnotic in that way that only the female voice can be. She’s got some Linda Ronstadt/Bonnie Raitt vibes going on and I’d put her voice up against any of the ladies in our scene.

Listen to “Tough As Nails” where she brings her potent dose of soul.

“Keep on Keepin’ On” closes the record and is the closest thing to an upper. It’s a good one.

Finally, I’m going to evoke the “you need to see them live to fully appreciate them” catch phrase. Seeing Jackie do her percussion parts one woman band style while still managing to bring those killer vocals is mesmerizing. Meanwhile Brandon is up on there on guitar, all smiles and having fun. You can tell the guy has had to entertain people before.

Here’s a peek at them covering some Turnpike:

The Gibbonses are a hidden gem in plain sight. Get to see them if they are in your neck of the woods. Until then check out “Among The Rubble” and be looking for a follow up album during first half of 2018.

For 23 years, George “Jub Jub” Dunham along with his co-hosts Craig “Junior” Miller and Gordon Keith (a.k.a. “The Great Gordo”) have been part of a team that redefined sports talk radio. When The Ticket (KTCK 1310 AM, 96.7 FM Dallas-Fort Worth) took to the airwaves back in 1994, “all sports” radio was in its infancy. While such stations existed in other markets, radio execs were skeptical that a format consisting of “all sports, all the time” had staying power.

The Ticket came along and well, it shattered the mold… in a way that I can only describe as an accidental stroke of genius. Rather than sticking to straight-laced sports journalism, it took an unscripted mix of guy talk, wacky on-air bits, sports news and “hot sports opinions” and built a subculture of loyal listeners, a.k.a. “P1s” (“P1” is radio jargon used to specify a station’s primary listener base, but due to its success The Ticket has pretty much hijacked the term. Simply Google “What is a P1?”). Over the years stations across the country have tried to copy “The Little Ticket” formula but none have been able to find those intangibles that make the magic; so elusive that even the staff couldn’t write the recipe if asked.

But amidst all the in jest crotch kicking that happens between on air personalities, the station culture is one of continuously giving back to the community, hosting various charity events throughout the year – golf tournaments, softball games, the Norm-A-Thon (hosted by legendary DFW broadcaster Norm Hitzges) are some off the cuff examples.

One Ticket charity event bleeds over into our Texas music world, and that would be Jub Jam. Like a lot of us, George Dunham got hooked listening to the likes of Randy Rogers, Wade Bowen and Pat Green. Inspired, he picked up his music ambitions that had been shelved since college and started his own band, The Bird Dogs, who are putting out their third album this summer. George admits, while it’s been fun, getting solid traction with his music has been difficult. So much so that he came close to giving it up, until a chain of events in his life and community shifted his focus to a bigger picture. It was out of those reflections that Jub Jam was born.

On April 13, Jub Jam 2017 will be held at legendary Kessler Theater in Oak Cliff. The music event benefits The Senior Source and features a pretty cool lineup – Flatland Cavalry, Kylie Rae Harris, Bobby Duncan, The Bird Dogs, The Gordon Keith Band, Michael Padgett and Steve Helms.

This was a fun interview and worth checking out. We cover George’s musical journey, this year’s Jub Jam lineup and of course mix in some Ticket shtick.